Words About Things

We tend to forget about our waste once it has been um… dispensed with, flushing it away for someone else to deal with. But what if you could power your car with human waste thus reducing the amount of pollution you create and the amount of money you spend on driving?  Lots of cars in the UK currently run on liquid natural gas (LNG) but could compressed natural gas (CNG) be just as effective?

Wessex Water Plc are a water and sewage-treatment firm so they have access more human waste than they know what to do with, until now. They have recently had a Volkswagen Beetle converted to run on compressed natural gas from their Bristol sewage treatment works. They are running a six month trial to test the viability of powering their entire fleet from small cars right up to larger vans with natural gas.

The processing plant is already partially powered by electricity created from natural gas and Wessex Water even creates enough power to sell some back to the National Grid. Releasing biogas back into the atmosphere would be harmful as Methane is a ‘greenhouse’ gas so the company wanted to use the excess they created. They say the car runs well:

“We decided to power a vehicle on the gas offering a sustainable alternative to using fossil fuels which we so heavily rely on in the UK. If you were to drive the car you wouldn’t know it was powered by biogas as it performs just like any conventional car. It is probably the most sustainable car around.” – Mohammed Saddiq

Unfortunately powering cars using human created biogas is not an entirely scalable idea, it takes the combined output of 70 homes to create enough fuel to power the VW bug for 1 year. If you consider that most households have a least one car or van there just isn’t enough poo being produced.

Do you think that the Hummer (previous holder of the title of the most obnoxious car ever) is subtle and a little bit feminine? Do you long for something more ridiculous with greater emissions? Do you want to be able to run over small children without even seeing them? Then I have just the vehicle for you!

The Knight XV by Conquest Vehicles (I swear I’m not making this up) is 20ft long and costs £323,000.  For that meager sum you get a ‘bespoke luxury armored vehicle’ capable of withstanding everything the modern world throws at it. Whilst you relax in luxury you can be assured that all the bullets fired in your direction will bounce off leaving barely a scratch. Sit back and enjoy a drink from the built in mini bar whilst watching Corrie on the 26 inch flat screen TV safe in the knowledge that any prospective car jackers can be squashed in an instant.

The Knight XV is a civilian version of the Armet Armored Vehicles Gurkha which is used by the US Army and contains several high tech security systems. Front and rear night vision cameras and a built in intercom system allow you to keep tabs on what is going on outside without the need to open the reinforced doors. Tinted windows mean that you can ignore passers by who stare in slack-jawed horror at your ride.

The Knight features “a 6.8 litre, V10 Ford engine capable of producing 400 horsepower and top speed of 100mph” along with an under vehicle blast protection system. All this will come in very handy when dropping the kids off at school or picking up some shopping. If your next door neighbors have a Lard Rover or a flashy van then imagine their face when you drive up in this abomination. You’ll have to be quick however as only 100 vehicles are being produced.

Whoever made this advert clearly had a big budget and a lot of time to think of an original concept. Unlike a lot of adverts for car hire it focuses more on creating a story than such trivial details such as price or locations. The result is slick and entertaining although it doesn’t really have a pay off in terms of plot. What would you do if you had the use of an Audi R8 and a Ferrari California for the night?

Running a car can be quite a drain on your finances. As well as road tax, petrol and a yearly m.o.t there are always the unexpected costs that appear at inopportune moments. I drove off from the petrol station last month wondering what was making a noise on the roof of the car, it turned out to be the petrol cap which was surprisingly expensive to replace.

A recent survey has shown that 61% of car owners in Britain have changed their driving habits in order to save money. Whilst we love having our own cars many are deciding to cut down on journeys and a third of those asked had started car sharing. 95% said that they would walk more if they gave up their cars although that seems like a strange question to me, who are the 5% who wouldn’t walk any more without a car?

The rise in car hire by the hour schemes has meant that some have chosen to not own a car but to lease one when needed. This option is best suited to those in cities who can rely on public transport day-to-day, in rural areas not having a car can leave people reliant on sparse bus services. Car sharing is also a good way of keeping down costs as well as reducing pollution.

The average driver in Britain spends around £106 per month keeping their car running, this is a little less than the European average of £126. This figure is sure to rise as petrol prices increase and local governments try to dissuade people from using their cars by increasing tolls and parking costs.